AI Photo: VCG

US politicians on a House Armed Services subcommittee and the UK spy agency chief have recently gone on another round of hyping the "China threat theory" and demonize China in the field of AI technology, with experts saying on Thursday that these acts aim to use ideology to politicize the issue of AI, and to legitimize the acts of Washington and London in containing or cutting off normal cooperation and exchanges between Western companies, science technology institutions and their Chinese counterparts.

More dangerously, US and UK politicians and relevant officials are trying to beautify or cover their selfish and irresponsible moves of promoting usage of AI in the field of military and espionage, which have been met with strong opposition and concern of the international community including China, analysts said, warning that China needs to be prepared for a "dangerous arms race" in the field of AI initiated by the US and its allies.  

Richard Moore, head of the UK's Secret Intelligence Service, better known as MI6, told the US media outlet Politico on Wednesday that the agency is in "a race to use artificial intelligence to outsmart adversaries and stop them from abusing the technology." 

"There's absolutely no doubt that some of our adversaries will be prepared to develop AI in ways which are reckless and dangerous ... That worries us," Moore said.

These remarks are truly ridiculous, because it was countries like the US and the UK that firstly pushed the use of AI in the field of military and espionage to threaten and harm other countries' national security, and their irresponsible acts are the real challenge to world peace in the first place, said a Beijing-based expert on cybersecurity who asked for anonymity. 

Based on public information and media reports, the US has already used AI technology in military drones, and the US and its allies have already started projects on unmanned battlefield systems, and now they are using AI to conduct online espionage acts for intelligence gathering purposes, said the expert.

"But now, Moore is trying to say that his infamous spy agency is like an innocent and clean charity organization, and this is truly laughable," the expert told the Global Times.  

Ambassador Zhang Jun, Chinese permanent representative to the UN, said at the UN Security Council Briefing on Artificial Intelligence on Tuesday, "The potential impacts of AI may exceed human cognitive boundaries. To ensure that this technology always benefits humanity, it is necessary to take people-oriented and AI for good as the basic principles to regulate the development of AI and to prevent this technology from turning into a runaway wild horse."

Zhang said, "AI in the military field may lead to major changes in the methods of warfare and the format of war. All countries should uphold a responsible defense policy, oppose the use of AI to seek military hegemony or to undermine the sovereignty and territorial integrity of other countries, and avoid the abuse, unintentional misuse or even intentional misuse of AI weapons systems," according to the website of the Chinese Permanent Mission to the UN. 

Ignoring China's firm stance on the AI issue, Moore specifically mentioned China during his interview. He said, "China has added to its immense datasets at home by hoovering up others abroad, and the Chinese authorities are not hugely troubled by questions of personal privacy or individual data security," and "They're focused on controlling information and preventing inconvenient truths from being revealed."

US Congress members of the Cyber, Information Technologies, and Innovation subcommittee heard from US experts on Tuesday on how the US Department of Defense can utilize artificial intelligence to improve its capabilities, and what hurdles need to be overcome to maintain its position as a world leader. Some lawmakers warned of troubling potential consequences "if China were to win the competition," CBS reported.

Song Zhongping, a Chinese military expert and TV commentator, told the Global Times on Thursday that it's very clear that Moore and US lawmakers are trying to play the trick of hyping  "China threat theory" to legitimize the UK and US' act of interrupting or banning normal AI cooperation in civilian sectors, such as science technology companies, between the West and China.

"The US and the UK's political elites always treat cutting edge technologies as weapons, so they believe AI technology is a key field for major power competition, and they want to dominate the technology and create an overwhelming advantage against others, so that they can do whatever they want and bully others from a position of strength," Song noted.

In the future, a war between a country that has mastered AI technology for military use and a country that has no AI technology at all will become an absolutely one-sided massacre, as the weak side's troops will be slaughtered by unmanned war machines in the battlefield, said Song. "The terrible and dangerous arms race in the field of AI has already been launched by the US and its allies, and that would be deadly if other countries just sit and wait and do nothing. China will be fully prepared to deal with this dangerous trend," Song noted.